- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Lévis—Lotbinière
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 68%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $145,672.97
- Government Page
- May/30/24 8:02:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague asked a very interesting question. I talked about that in my speech. It would have been better to target people who do not have access or who need a lot of prescription medication that they cannot afford. If the government had done that, then it would have to cover only about 1% to 2% of the Canadian population, and we might have supported the measure. However, it bothers us that that the government wants to scrap everything that currently exists in the public and private sector to implement an extremely onerous system with a lot of red tape.
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- May/30/24 8:00:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague, who was here when I was part of an excellent Conservative government, that the national debt was around $500 billion. It is now over $1.25 trillion. That alone is costing Canadians an enormous amount. Right now, the Liberals are spending more on debt interest than on health transfers. We are paying a huge amount of interest. The 7% that we pay on goods and services goes toward paying the debt instead of toward health care.
That is because the NDP is forcing the Liberals to overspend.
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- May/30/24 7:58:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would love to hear what Canadians think about this during an election, which may even come this summer. That would be for the greater good of all Canadians.
If this government has the courage to find out what the people want, it should call an election. Otherwise, let it continue to follow the NDP's lead.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to speak to Bill C-64, an act respecting pharmacare, which seeks to support the implementation of a national, universal pharmacare program.
I am always ready to champion a federalism that meets the needs of all Canadians, but there are a number of things that bother me about Bill C-64. Apart from the fact that it interferes in provincial jurisdictions, it was born of the Liberals' need to keep a minority government alive. That is why we are debating this bill tonight. Another thing that bothers me about Bill C-64 is that the Liberals are using the NDP like a lapdog, keeping it warm and cozy, only too happy to give in to the NDP's costly demands, while keeping it on a tight leash in a minority government that is on life support until the fall of 2025.
Since this bill does not respect provincial jurisdictions, it is obviously not legitimate. I have a hard time sorting out the reasons for this interference in provincial jurisdictions, which has become chronic over time, since the arrival of this Liberal government. I am even beginning to wonder whether the Bloc Québécois is not starting to rub off on the Liberal-NDP government in the House on other subjects.
One things is certain. Canadians are finding it increasingly difficult to identify with those who have become spokespeople for every issue instead of minding their own business. The Bloc Québécois is another example. On many issues, they are undermining the real well-being of Canadians, and especially Quebeckers, by playing provincial politics in the federal arena. They are confusing everyone.
In its current form, Bill C-64 would replace the private insurance system with a single insurance system. It would be a federal monopoly administered by a centralizing and incompetent Liberal government that has trouble managing its own departments and portfolios. For example, I am thinking about this government's inability to issue passports on time, which we experienced two years ago. I am not even sure what to say about the government's financial management, when it keeps spending borrowed money on the backs of future generations and dragging us towards a chronic and structural deficit. It is distressing to see a Liberal government that is incompetent across the board being supported by the NDP and, unfortunately, all too often by the Bloc Québécois as well.
Canadians are increasingly vulnerable, not because they lack access to medication in the provinces, but because they can no longer make ends meet. They have to make difficult choices between food and housing. Bill C-64 is just another idea where the expense is not worth the cost. Even more of taxpayers' money is being wasted in the expansion of the federal government, which is becoming increasingly intrusive and costly. Bill C-64 was born of noble intentions, but implementing it would create yet another inefficient and costly bureaucracy on top of the one that has been far too intrusive since 2015.
Currently, according to the brief submitted by Innovative Medicines Canada to the Standing Committee on Health, 97.2% of Canada's population benefits from access to prescription drug coverage through a public or private pharmacare plan. However, one in 10 Canadians are not enrolled in a government program that would cover the costs, even though they are entitled to it.
If we want to improve coverage, then we need to better inform Canadians. We do not need to destroy what is already in place to rebuild on a new foundation that has not been proven. The precursor pharmacare system in the province of Quebec, which was implemented 28 years ago, has been proven. The system is already practically universal. Common sense tells us that to improve coverage and access we just need to have targeted policies for the populations that do not have access. It is unnecessary to demolish what is already working, contrary to what the Liberals are currently proposing.
Monopolies of any kind have rarely served the interests of citizens. Replacing all the private drug plans entails major risks, including a reduction in the quality of service. As a result of competition, approximately twice as many new drugs are made available to patients on the private market in half the time.
Canadians appreciate this efficient system. Because it is a high-quality system, hospitals are less crowded, which in turn means lower costs. As I was saying earlier, this is yet another attempt by the Liberal government to interfere in provincial jurisdictions without consultation.
The health minister suggested that it would be absolutely out of the question for Quebec to give Ottawa free rein to create a pharmacare program in the province, unless it gives Quebec the right to opt out with full financial compensation, which the Prime Minister has no intention of doing. The same goes for Alberta.
The real reason behind this bill is that the Liberals have no choice but to bring forward this proposal because it is a condition of the NDP's support for the Liberal government and its survival, which has been at risk since its re-election. They outright ignore all the misgivings about the need for the bill and especially the costs associated with implementing it, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer told us. The survival of the costly coalition is at stake. They are trying once again to establish an even more centralist government, forgetting the country's federative nature and attempting to make it a unitary state.
The government should be more pragmatic and less ideological about this bill, otherwise all its efforts will be counterproductive. Instead of thinking about kickbacks to stay in power, the Liberal government should recognize the following facts. This is not a pharmacare plan. It is an empty promise that will not cover the vast majority of drugs used by Canadians.
After nine years of Liberal governance, the current Prime Minister has made a lot of promises. He promised affordable housing, and then he doubled the cost of housing. He promised that the carbon tax would cost nothing, and now we learn that 60% of families are paying more because of the carbon tax. He promised that taxes would be lowered but they went up. He promised safe streets, but ushered in crime, chaos, drugs and disorder.
This Liberal-NDP government cannot be trusted to deliver anything worthwhile to Canadians. In fact, the people have been betrayed, along with the working class too, to keep the Prime Minister in power while he doubles the cost of housing and quadruples the carbon tax.
Most Canadians already have prescription drug coverage. Many worry about losing the coverage they already have, coverage that works for them. There are also serious concerns about the cost of this proposal. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has said that it could cost tens of billions of dollars. Canadians cannot afford it at a time when they cannot even afford to pay their bills because of this Prime Minister. No Canadian wants a system that performs less well, offers less coverage, costs more and creates a massive new bureaucracy in Ottawa.
In closing, I want to reassure concerned voters who are not buying it. The common-sense Conservatives are going to abolish the carbon tax and bring down the prices of the basic goods that Canadians need. Canadians do not need legislation like this in these difficult times. What they need is an election as soon as possible to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.
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- May/30/24 2:54:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this government that is not worth the cost, the CMHC is saying that Canada needs 5.8 million housing units to address the housing affordability crisis.
This Liberal-Bloc government is building fewer homes than in the 1970s. It is truly scandalous.
The Conservative act to build homes and not bureaucracy is a logical solution. Why is the Prime Minister protecting the incompetence of Liberal mayors instead of building housing?
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- May/30/24 2:53:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Ville-Marie, where the mayor of Montreal was elected, it takes 540 days to get a building permit.
What is more, the Bloc Québécois voted against the bill to build housing. That is called incompetence. It is absolutely ridiculous that this Liberal-Bloc government is not demanding that the cities speed up housing construction.
Why is the Prime Minister rejecting common sense and still protecting the incompetence of the mayors who support him?
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- May/28/24 1:54:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my intervention will be brief.
I would like to turn the question back to my colleague. He is considered to be the most partisan Liberal member there is in the House, given all the speeches he has made. Will the Liberals vote impartially to elect an impartial Speaker here in the House?
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- May/28/24 1:53:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I understand my colleague's concerns here in the House. The role of Speaker is so important in this chamber. If there are doubts about the Speaker, there could be doubts about the entire institution.
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- May/28/24 1:51:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague did not have time to ask his question because his preamble was such a broad and extremely partisan tirade against the Conservatives. He has just proven once again that there are people here who are extremely partisan. He is defending the indefensible. He is defending a partisan Speaker of the House who is not impartial. I do not understand why he is so adamant about keeping him on.
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- May/28/24 1:43:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to address the House. I would like to inform you that I will be sharing my time with the member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands.
This is a Speaker's scandal. For thousands of good people, today is another sad day, a day where our democracy is being disrespected and Canadians' confidence in the House of Commons is being put to the test. The Liberals have too often demonstrated a lack of ethics since 2015, especially when it comes to high-level positions such as Prime Minister of Canada or Speaker of the House of Commons, in the case we are discussing today.
As members know, the Speaker is supposed to be impartial, non-partisan and beyond reproach. However, the Liberal member for Hull—Aylmer is struggling to figure out the difference between the role of member and the role of Speaker, or at least, he still does not understand, despite his previous mistakes, that it is not appropriate for a Speaker to engage in Liberal partisan activity. He should have seen the position as a great opportunity in his political career, but he immediately took it for granted. It is different this time, though, because he was found guilty of not being up to the task.
This is the third time in the span of a few months that the Speaker has neglected his responsibility to remain non-partisan. Let me give a quick recap of the facts.
In recent months, the Speaker has spoken at a fundraising cocktail party for a Liberal neighbour. He has addressed an Ontario Liberal Party convention dressed in his Speaker robes, and he has flown to Washington on Canadian taxpayers' dime to deliver a speech about the good old days when he was a member of the Young Liberals of Canada. I do not know whether this is because he had never dreamed of holding such a post, but his actions are unworthy of the office of Speaker.
As members will recall, the previous Speaker of the House had to resign. We cannot question the reason for his departure, but we can salute him for having the courage to leave his post with humility. He recognized his mistakes and acted accordingly, understanding that the serious nature of our democratic institutions is worth preserving. The office must always trump personal partisan ambitions. In contrast, the current Speaker has demonstrated time and again not only his inability to remain neutral, but also his disdain for the neutrality of his post through his stubborn determination to hold onto it. His apologies are not enough. In some respects, they seem like a last-ditch attempt to salvage his chances of staying on as Speaker of the House.
Now might be a good time to take a walk down memory lane to remind ourselves of the events in question. First, the Speaker participated in a cocktail reception for party activists, for which he was fined just $1,500, despite the unacceptable nature of the error. Although using his office and Speaker's robes in an undeniably partisan setting ought to have led to an automatic dismissal, the Liberals saw fit to buy peace. Next, he overstepped his authority as Speaker by ejecting the member for Carleton and leader of the official opposition, in an illegitimate and undeniably partisan manner, for using language that has now been accepted by all following further review.
Now we have learned that the Speaker of the House is set to take part in a clearly partisan event, which was advertised with incendiary anti-Conservative materials. I understand that the Speaker is still attached to his role as the member for Hull—Aylmer. I myself am very committed to constituency work, which must be done for the benefit of all citizens, even those who did not vote for us. I agree that some aspects of this work are also partisan in nature. However, the role of Speaker is so important for unity in the House and in the country that we cannot allow it to be subject to these divisive dynamics, which, in this case, played out to an unhealthy degree. The fact that the position of Speaker of the House was exploited for partisan purposes leaves a bad taste that cannot be compared or contrasted with the work of any other member.
The many events, particularly this last one, are pure provocation. They demonstrate an arrogance that undermines Canadians' confidence in our institutions and promotes cynicism toward politics in general.
As elected officials, our number one priority is to serve and represent our constituents. This job comes with a certain number of privileges, but it also comes with responsibilities. There are rules that hold us accountable to Canadians, as well as to the House that represents them. That responsibility is what we must always be thinking about for Canada's future.
The real reasons keeping the Speaker from resigning remain unclear. It may come down to ego, visceral partisanship or political pressure from his caucus or party. However, regardless of the reasons, I am once again asking the Speaker to resign in the interest of everyone, to ensure that the extremely important work that is done here can carry on properly. It is a matter of common sense, and I salute my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois, who, for once, have reached the same conclusion we have.
The current Speaker has shown that he does not intend to remain impartial. We have known for months that the Speaker does not intend to do his job properly or fairly. We are therefore asking the NDP to grow a spine and stand up for Canadians.
We will have to make a decision because, clearly, the Speaker of the House does not have the humility needed to step down, and the Prime Minister does not appear to think there is a problem. It is our duty to ensure that the House operates in an impartial and non-partisan manner. I am counting on my colleagues to put an end to this Speaker's scandal.
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- May/27/24 3:00:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, nine years under this Liberal-Bloc Prime Minister is too costly. As a result, there has been an increase in hunger and homelessness.
By supporting every single budget appropriation totalling $500 billion, the Bloc Québécois has increased inflation, the cost of housing, the cost of energy, the cost of groceries, the cost of bureaucracy and centralizing powers. Going hungry and sleeping on a park bench has become a daily reality for far too many people. Quebeckers are struggling.
Do the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals have nothing better to offer Quebeckers?
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- May/7/24 2:45:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is not building housing, it is building bureaucracy with its $500 billion in centralizing, inflationary spending that created the cost of living crisis and the housing crisis we are currently experiencing. Thousands of Canadians are in dire poverty.
Will the Prime Minister start building housing, fast? When things get so bad that people have to start sleeping in their van or car, it is because the Prime Minister is asleep at the wheel.
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- May/7/24 2:44:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the Prime Minister and the Bloc Québécois are not worth the cost. The more the government spends, with support from the Bloc Québécois, the harder life becomes for Quebeckers. The housing crisis will soon force Canadians, against their wishes, to move into their vans as a last resort, not as a retirement dream.
When will the Prime Minister, who is being propped up by the Bloc Québécois, which voted for $500 billion in budget allocations, stop wasting money so that Quebeckers can start living decently again, in a real home, not a van?
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/6/24 1:16:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened closely to my colleague's remarks. There is a double standard when it comes to the Bloc Québécois. It is true that in the past, the Bloc voted against the budgets, but they voted in favour of the budgetary appropriations. We are talking about $500 billion in inflationary, centralizing spending.
Why does the Bloc Québécois always vote in favour of the budgetary appropriations? Will the Bloc vote for the budgetary appropriations associated with this year's budget?
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- May/2/24 3:02:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the Bloc Québécois and the Prime Minister are not worth the cost.
The Bloc Québécois has always sided with the Liberals when it comes to government spending. We are talking about $500 billion in centralizing, inflationary spending here. Ouch, that hurts. This spending increases the cost of living and keeps interest rates high. Because of this Liberal government, backed by the Bloc Québécois, Quebeckers are going hungry, are struggling to afford housing and cannot make ends meet.
When will this Bloc Québécois-backed Prime Minister stop wasting money so Quebeckers can afford housing and food again?
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- Apr/19/24 11:42:59 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after nine years of this Liberal government and its inflationary policies, everything costs more, everything costs too much. Interest rates have tripled. Gasoline costs over $1.90 a litre. Groceries are unaffordable. Canadians are going hungry because housing is too expensive now. The Canadian dream of home ownership is now beyond the reach of a hard-working generation of young adults.
Will this inflationary government implement a policy of matching every dollar of new program spending with a dollar of savings?
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- Apr/16/24 2:01:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to be the honorary president of the Canadian Cancer Society's Relay for Life in Lotbinière/Lévis, which will take place on June 8.
As a symbol of perseverance and a message of hope for those affected by cancer, participants of all ages have been joining forces and taking turns walking along a track or road since 1999.
The highly anticipated event will be held at Terry Fox park in Saint-Apollinaire from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. the next morning.
Funds raised are used to support innovative research into all types of cancer, provide the most extensive support network to improve the lives of people with cancer and shape public health policies.
I invite all members to set up teams and walk with me at the Lotbinière/Lévis Relay for Life in support of a noble cause that is especially important to me.
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- Apr/9/24 4:12:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, science and technology will be a huge help as we face climate change.
I would like to tell my colleague that the carbon exchange does exist in Quebec. Every time I go to the pump to fill up my car, part of the price of gas goes toward the carbon exchange. Right now, that money is doing nothing for Quebeckers. It goes to California, and we get nothing in return. Whether it is called a carbon exchange or a carbon tax, as it is in the other provinces, it is the same thing. The money is coming out of Canadians' pockets.
I would rather work for Canadians than ideologues.
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- Apr/9/24 4:11:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague likes to play with numbers, but when Canadians go to the pump and pay 25¢, 30¢ or 40¢ on every litre of gas every time, that is taking a lot of extra money out of their pockets. Every time something is transported in Canada, the carbon tax applies.
The facts are simple. Two million Canadians are struggling to eat, to the point where a national program is needed to feed kids at school. The same thing was needed for third world countries about 10 years ago. We have reached that point here.
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- Apr/9/24 4:09:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, shame on the government across the way. With all the work it has done since 2015, is Canada in a good position internationally when it comes to reducing greenhouse gases? No, we are not doing very well. All the policies this government has put in place are not working. It is a colossal failure.
It only has a few months left. If it has any pride, it should call an election as soon as possible.
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